Protective packaging is used during shipping of fragile articles. There are numerous types and forms of packaging material for this purpose including wastepaper, embossed paper, laminated bubble paper and plastic beads, known as peanuts. These forms of cushioning material, while providing certain cushioning, do not always provide the cushioning needed when shipping. These packaging materials also frequently present waste disposal problems upon unpacking the articles.
Positive strides in better packaging have been developed using inflatable packaging material such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,157 to Pozzo which discloses various forms of inflatable packaging cushion serving to protect one or more sides and/or ends of an article. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,533 provides a design similar to some of the earlier inflatable packaging designs but having improved features, for example, providing the ability to protect articles on the sides and ends. In another example of inflatable packaging cushions, U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,096 discloses an inflatable cushion intended to protect the top and bottom of an article during shipping.
While various packaging cushions have been developed which adequately protect portions of an article, many articles have the largest surfaces to be protected on their top and bottom yet also need to be protected on the sides and ends. It is difficult to satisfy performance requirements simply by dealing with the top and the bottom surfaces of an article; whereas, when just considering the sides and ends, an article can be supported in a box using multiple edges as support as opposed to a flat surface which is more representative of what is in contact with the top and the bottom of the product.
Even with these improvements there remains a desire to have packaging that provides cushioning to the top and bottom of an article as well as the sides and ends. In addition, it is desirable to provide an inflatable cushion that is easy for the packaging operator to load as well as easy to unpack after shipping.